Control
by Broken Blackk Dahlia
Summary: A sinner with a troubled past has lived in the World of the Living for years, seemingly unnoticed. Strange new hybrids have begun to appear in Karakura Town, leaving our substitute Shinigami and co in confusion. Recruited by the old group and Sireitei, this hell escapee assists in what ways she can. Eventual Shuuhei x OC. Warnings inside.


**Warnings: AU (because I can't stand how the series ended), Post-Series, Hisagi Shuuhei x OC, Rating may bump up, and a mountain of other fun stuff to come.  
**

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**1.**

Kurosaki Ichigo sprinted down the streets of Karakura, rapidly closing in on where a form had been swatted from the sky by something, an almost-human figure. _Almost._ It was strange looking, hunched slightly. _The one day he didn't have his substitute pass with him... _He mentally slapped himself and pressed on, looking up at the form in the evening sky.

Whatever the thing knocked from the sky was, its spiritual pressure was weakening steadily. It first appeared when he escaped hell many months back. He paid it no mind for the most part, disregarding any links it might have had to the place. It wasn't dangerous from what he could tell, just a lingering presence.

Until he finally caught a glimpse of whatever it may have been - he, she, _it_ - on a dark night. Barely a silhouette, but still there.

Just minutes back, he had been walking home from work per usual, about the time the sun began to set, and a hollow's scream pierced the air. That presence flared suddenly, like it had times before, and it was almost alarming.

Though, in the past occasions, it had been the dead of night. He never quite got a feel of it, just coaxed him out of slumber.

Another was with it this time, much more apparent than the former. It seemed unbelievably strong, equaling up with some of the Espada he had encountered years back.

In response to the flash of pressure, he broke into a sprint, clearing the trees' cover in time to see the not-quite-human figure slap a faintly burgundy and white form from the sky, to tumble to the ground somewhere near the town cemetery. The fall would possibly immobilize it, so he would have that chance to finally see what it was, who was suddenly disrupting the spiritual peace Karakura Town had retained.

…

Red wine colored hair spilled over pale concrete and steel clanked against the hard ground.

A woman pushed herself up onto her forearms and let out a sigh, looking up at the sky. "Damn it, " she breathed, steadily rotating her wrist, the blade clutched in her left hand rhythmically tapping against the ground.

The silhouette of her attacker hunched in the sky above her, mask cracked from a blow she gave. She couldn't quite put into words what it was, but could scarcely take a guess to what it _used_ to be. Monstrous, in short. It definitely doubled her current power and strength fivefold.

"I'll kill you for that, " she called to it, groaning and fully sitting up, just to lazily return to her previous position. Her back arched awkwardly over the step to a cluster of gravemarkers, hair messily splaying over it. Uttering a curse, she watched as it suddenly disappeared with a rippling sound.

Violet eyes narrowed and her expression twisted. "The hell was that?" she asked herself, mouth a bitter line.

Blood ran down her side from a cut, splitting the dark bindings, darkly dripping to the gray of the ground. A few skinned sections on her back and elbows began to sting and ooze red, and she coughed, feeling a shock of pain from doing-so.

The dust that hung in the air cleared as her eyes shut, a groan ripping from her throat. The thing... it had a chain in one hand, a katana in the other, as well as a white ooze enveloping its body and hardening into armor, a second skin. A hole opened up in its abdomen, a mask taking all of its head, apart from the messy mane.

Reflecting on the moment it appeared, the horror of its appearance returned to the woman's mind. She couldn't believe what it was she saw. All she knew, was that it was probably like her before that hole made itself at home in the being's body.

Something was coming close, she realised suddenly. It might have been what coaxed the monster into retreating to whatever demonised hell it now hailed from. It surely made her want to jump up and get away as quickly as possible, but that wasn't such an easy task in her current state.

A slew of curses escaped her lips as a form approached. Whomever it was, was in shock. Taking in the area around her, the impact made a slight dent in the ground, the concrete spiderwebbing into cracks. It explained why the person was in shock. It's not everyday that the ground suddenly cracks, as if something - or someone, in her case - was flung to it by an impossibly powerful force.

Rising to her feet painfully, she eyed the approaching form. '_A high school student, maybe? Weird orange hair... is that even natural?'_ She made a face as he grew closer.

"You!"

"You can see me?" she blurted in surprise, regretting it soon after. Her torso felt like it was on fire; bones were obviously cracked or broken. The grip she had on her katana tightened, knuckles going white.

Ichigo slowed to a stop, feet away from this figure. The airy rattle of a chain filled the air as he eyed her and she shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't sure what she was, but it was strange. "I've been tr- " he suddenly stopped as the woman's arm raised, blade in-hand.

Breathing almost inaudible words, the witches knot tattoo on her left shoulder glowed blue-gray. Pained gaze never once leaving this spiritually-aware teen, she plunged her blade into the mark.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

He half-expected blood spray, but was surprised when the blade sank into the glow. Wide eyes set on it as the blue-gray subsided and the katana's hilt sank into the pale spans of skin, out of sight.

"Sealing my sword, that's what." the woman said simply, looking up at the orange-haired teen. "Otherwise, I'd be swinging around a damn demon sword." Sighing, she placed an arm across her ribs, fingers gingerly running over the bones.

Ichigo took a moment for it to soak in. _'Sealing her sword.?' _Making a face, he eyed the tattoo once again. "Well... I've been trying to find you. Your spiritual pressure is different from an Arrancar or Shinigami's."

The woman snorted, pain rippling through her from it. Cringing, she spoke, "Of course it's different. I'm not a Shinigami, nor an Arrancar."She guessed he hadn't noticed the chain clearly protruding from the centre of her chest and a red scar, just below the collarbone. It made her wonder how long it would take for him to notice.

Finally, brown hues set on the scar spanning over her chest and the red-almost-black links that protruded from its centre, wrapping around her neck twice and falling over one shoulder. It was almost in the fashion that one would wear a scarf.

"You're from..." he started, to lose his words. He wasn't sure how to accept the fact that someone escaped hell. He barely escaped the Kushanada, himself. How could a seemingly weak Togabito escape so easily? "How did you get out?"

…

Within the hour, the strange hell-escapee and Ichigo were sitting in front of Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi, the woman explaining what had happened to the pair.

"So, tell me your name, " Kisuke asked as Tessai came in with a large bowl and slid it in front of the woman, a pair of chopsticks balanced on the rim.

Violet eyes set on the bowl. "Pardon?" she asked, looking up from the wonderful-smelling food and setting on the blonde man.

That caught her off guard. She never really remembered her name. All she could recall was what crime she had committed during her living days. Slowly picking up the chopsticks, the constricting bandages covering her torso making it painful, she thought. Her mouth twisted as she did.

"You don't remember it?"

"No, I'm sorry. All I can recall is that it started with 'a'"

"Any nicknames?"

Again, she thought, taking a mouthful of the food she had been presented with; some kind of noodles. "Ah, yeah." She swallowed. "Azami is what they called me in hell. The guys decided on it because I was the least hopeless out of all the bastards in that wretched place."

"Word of the heart? Or thorn?" Kisuke raised his eyebrows.

"Both." she grinned. "I was kind of a pain in the ass sometimes."

"Wouldn't've known, " Ichigo grumbled sarcastically, receiving a glare from the red wine-haired girl beside him. She resumed eating, eyes flicking between him and the bowl a few times.

"Ichigo, " Yoruichi warned, looking at the teen knowingly. She hadn't seen him like that in awhile, since things had died down in the World of the Living and Sireitei.

He looked at her and sighed, nodding in acknowledgement. He couldn't push it with this girl, she could be valuable to them.

"So, " Kisuke said, catching himself before he rambled on about name meanings. "Where are you from, Azami? "

Azami paused for a moment, before sighing. "If this chain isn't too much of a giveaway, " Dainty fingers lifted said chain from around her neck, to rattle lightly into the air. "I hail from hell."

There was a faint accent to her voice, and the other three seated around the table finally took note of it. By the tone, even so brief, it sounded British. It perplexed Kisuke and Yoruichi, they never encountered a spirit with an accent. The pair exchanged a look, and the former cleared his throat.

Eager to know more about the dead girl and what hell does to one's spirit and memories, he asked, "Do you remember anything from your old life?"

Azami's pupils contracted slightly at the question. Laughing lightly, contradicting with her former confusion, she replaced the chopsticks on the rim of her bowl. "That is for me to know, sir."

Of course she remembered her past, all inhabitants of hell did. Treacherous thoughts plagued her mind as she reflected on her past, her living days. All of her wrongdoings and happy memories remained, except for her name. The one thing everyone was to cling to and retain, she lost. It was albatross, in the sinner's mind.

The image of three people, particularly special to her during her good days, flashed behind her eyes and her mouth twisted. It hurt to remember them, smiling faces and sweet memories. Two passed when she was young because of her lack of realisation, and the remaining one died because of her carelessness - she stole her own life selfishly so that the one person who meant anything to her would not have to further witness the madness that had enveloped her.

Uttering a curse, she looked up. "I'm sorry, I don't remember much." she lied, resting her hands in her lap. They would surely use her to gain information and studies on hell's inhabitants, the Togabito. _Sinners._

Shinigami weren't to associate with any of them, but they had never exactly encountered one that didn't want to kill them. But they couldn't be too sure that this one wouldn't turn and literally stab them in the backs.

"So, what help will she be?" Ichigo asked, looking from the girl, as she picked up her chopsticks, to the two across the table. "Will she be returned to hell, or what?"

Azami sputtered, throwing the utensils down again. "Excuse me! That place is a shithole!" she declared, arms folding over her chest. "There are wailing fuckers everywhere! And some of 'em are deranged, crazier than me!" she ranted, accent really breaking through in the moment. Resisting the urge to cry out and roll around from the pain radiating through her ribcage, she held a steady glare at the carrot-top. "I refuse to go back."

"Well, she could go to school with you and help with the strange appearances of the Arrancar-type things. You know that you've been struggling with them, Ichigo." Yoruichi said, looking between the two. "Besides, the Vizards could use the extra hand."

"No! I have school and work, I can't afford to babysit a pink-haired hell-escapee! She doesn't have a gigai, anyway!"

"My hair is _not_ pink, and I'm _far_ older than you, kid!" the girl snarled, taking handfuls of her long locks and waving them. "It's burgundy! _Burgundy_! You're one to be talking, carrot-top!"

Before Ichigo could blow up at Azami further, Kisuke interjected. "I can get her a gigai and Soul Candy, "

"I don't recall saying I would help, "Azami said, calming down. "But okay, I'll do it, I guess. I'll get to annoy Strawberry, here."

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**Reviews and favorites are much appreciated. c: Forgive any mistakes, I'll be revising periodically to get things I don't catch. I hope that wasn't too bad, it's been well over two years since I've written anything for Bleach. I'm not quite sure if everyone's in character or anything, but I'm hoping they were. I'll try to have more up soon!  
~ Broken Blackk Dahlia  
**


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